The 2017–18 season was Dunfermline Athletic's second season in the Scottish Championship, having finished 5th in the 2016–17 season.
Having finished the season fourth in the league, the club qualified for the quarter-final stage of the quarter-final stage of the Scottish Premiership play-offs. After a 0–0 draw with Dundee United at East End Park, the Pars lost the second leg 2–1 at Tannadice. Dunfermline also competed in the Scottish Challenge Cup, Scottish League Cup and the Scottish Cup, where they were knocked out by Falkirk, Rangers and Morton, respectively.
Season review May 5 May 2017: After finishing fifth at the end of the 2016–17 season, manager Allan Johnston opted to offer new deals to the majority of the playing squad. Three first team players who were not offered new deals were Lewis Spence, Euan Spark, and Ben Richards-Everton, the last of which had struggled with injury during the 2016–17 season. Additionally, the club decided that they would not enter a youth side into the 2017–18 SPFL Development League with four youth players being subsequently released. Cammy Gill, Stuart Morrison, Scott Lochhead, Brandon Luke and Callum Smith were all promoted to the first-team. 8 May 2017: In the club's end of season address chairman Ross McArthur outlined the club's intentions of reaching a Scottish Premiership play-off place for the 2017–18 season, with a slightly smaller squad of players than in the previous season. Additionally, it was announced that work was due to begin on relaying East End Park's pitch after it was criticised for its condition towards the end of the previous season. 17 May 2017: The side completed their first signing of the 2017 summer transfer window, bringing in French defender Jean-Yves Mvoto on a one-year deal. Mvoto, who played most of his career in England, had previously played for Fife rivals Raith Rovers during the previous season. 31 May 2017: After the club's previous announcement on player releases, four further first-team players decided to leave East End Park following the end of their contracts. David Hutton, who made just 14 appearances over two season left to sign for recently promoted Scottish League One side Arbroath, whilst club captain Callum Fordyce signed for Championship rivals Queen of the South. Michael Moffat and Andy Geggan both signed for Ayr United, with both players having previously played with the Somerset Park side before playing for Dunfermline. At the time of his departure, Geggan was the longest serving Dunfermline player, having made almost 200 appearances, and was the final member of the squad who went through administration with the Pars in 2013.
June 23 June 2017: The fixtures for the coming SPFL season were released, with the Pars facing off against Scottish League One champions Livingston at Almondvale Stadium. The side's first home match was against recently relegated Inverness Caledonian Thistle, with the third fixture lining Dunfermline up against fierce rivals Falkirk at East End Park. 26 June 2017: To celebrate the 50 year anniversary of the club's 1968 Scottish Cup victory, the club launched their replica home kit for the 2017–18 in commemoration of the event.
July
August
September
October
November
December
January
February
March
Squad list
No. Name Nationality Position Date of birth (age) Signed from Signed in Signed until Apps. GoalsGoalkeepers 1 Sean Murdoch GK Rochester Rhinos 2015 2019 114 0 20 Cammy Gill GK Dunfermline Athletic youth teams 2016 2019 1 0 25 Lee Robinson GK Queen of the South 2018 2018 21 0 30 Craig Burt GK AM Soccer 2017 2018 0 0 Defenders 2 Ryan Williamson DF Dunfermline Athletic youth teams 2013 2019 113 1 3 Lewis Martin DF Dunfermline Athletic youth teams 2012 2018 129 3 4 Jean-Yves Mvoto DF Raith Rovers 2017 2018 21 0 5 Callum Morris (c) DF Aberdeen 2016 2018 123 7 6 Lee Ashcroft DF Kilmarnock 2016 2018 89 8 14 Jason Talbot DF Livingston 2015 2018 109 3 22 Stuart Morrison DF Dunfermline Athletic youth teams 2016 2019 0 0 Midfielders 7 Kallum Higginbotham MF Kilmarnock 2016 2018 86 17 8 Nat Wedderburn MF Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2016 2018 67 1 11 Joe Cardle MF Ross County 2015 2018 238 54 12 Daniel Armstrong MF Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 2018 2018 6 0 13 Aaron Splaine MF Kilmarnock 2017 2018 12 0 15 Michael Paton MF Queen of the South 2015 2018 81 7 17 Fraser Aird MF Falkirk 2017 2018 25 4 18 Conner Duthie MF Hibernian 2016 2018 7 0 19 Scott Lochhead MF Dundee United 2016 2018 7 0 21 Brandon Luke MF Dunfermline Athletic youth teams 2016 2018 0 0 26 James Vincent MF Dundee (loan) 2018 2018 12 0 27 Dean Shiels MF FC Edmonton 2017 2018 25 0 28 James Craigen MF Falkirk 2018 2018 18 1 31 Tom Beadling DF Sunderland (loan) 2018 2018 11 1 Forwards 9 Declan McManus FW Fleetwood Town 2017 2018 44 13 10 Nicky Clark FW Bury 2016 2018 78 37 16 Andy Ryan FW Airdrieonians 2017 2019 24 8 23 Callum Smith FW Fife Elite Football Academy 2016 2020 22 3
Results & fixtures
Pre-season
Scottish Championship
Premiership play-offs
Scottish League Cup
Group stage
Knockout phase
Scottish Challenge Cup
Scottish Cup
Squad statistics Appearances and goals During the 2017–18 season, Dunfermline used twenty-seven different players in competitive matches. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player. Right wing-back Ryan Williamson made the most appearances, playing forty-six out of a possible 48 games; Nicky Clark scored the most goal, with twenty-one in all competitions.
|colspan="14"|Players away from the club on loan:
|colspan="14"|Players who appeared for Dunfermline Athletic but left during the season:
a. Includes the Scottish Premiership play-offs.
Clean sheets {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align: center;" |- !width=15| !width=15| !width=15| !width=150|Name !width=80|Total !width=80|Scottish Championship !width=80|Scottish Cup !width=80|Scottish League Cup !width=80|Scottish Challenge Cup !width=80|Scottish Premiership play-offs |- |25 |GK | |Lee Robinson |12||11||||||||1 |- |1 |GK | |Sean Murdoch |8||4||||2||2|| |- !colspan="4"| Total !! 20 !! 15 !! 0 !! 2 !! 2 !! 1
Goalscorers During the 2017–18 season, fifteen Dunfermline players scored 84 goals in all competitions, with 1 goal having been an own goal scored by Peterhead defender Scott Ross. Striker Nicky Clark was the club's top scorer, with 21 goals in 48 competitive matches. Clark was the only player to have scored a hat-trick, scoring four in the first competitive fixture of the season against Elgin City and three against Championship opponents Brechin City and Queen of the South.
PlacePositionNationNameTotalScottish ChampionshipScottish CupScottish League CupScottish Challenge CupScottish Premiership play-offs1 FWNicky Clark21141422 FWDeclan McManus1372313 MFKallum Higginbotham1010MFJoe Cardle10735 FWAndy Ryan84136 DFLee Ashcroft44MFFraser Aird448 FWCallum Smith3219 DFCallum Morris22FWDavid Hopkirk22MFMichael Paton21112 DFRyan Williamson11MFTom Beadling11MFJames Craigen11DFJason Talbot11 — Own goal11 Total846051351
Disciplinary record
Squad number Position Nation Name Total Scottish Championship Scottish Cup Scottish League Cup Scottish Challenge Cup Scottish Premiership play-offs14DFJason Talbot7151117MFKallum Higginbotham615119MFDeclan McManus51516DFLee Ashcroft4131127MFDean Shiels313118DFConner Duthie11115DFCallum Morris109111MFJoe Cardle97112DFRyan Williamson664DFJean-Yves Mvoto558MFNat Wedderburn42111GKSean Murdoch3310MFNicky Clark3331MFTom Beadling3313MFAaron Splaine32125GKLee Robinson2228MFJames Craigen223MFLewis Martin1112DFDavid Hopkirk1115MFMichael Paton1116MFAndy Ryan1117MFFraser Aird1126MFJames Vincent1119MFScott Lochhead11 Total83671320503221
Club statistics
League table
Results by round
Results summary
League cup table
Home attendances
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%" |- ! scope="col" width=100 | Comp ! scope="col" width=120 | Date ! scope="col" width=60 | Score ! scope="col" width=250 class="unsortable" | Opponent ! scope="col" width=150 | Attendance |- |League Cup||15 July 2017||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"| 6–0 ||Elgin City||1,757 |- |League Cup||22 July 2017||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"| 5–1 ||Peterhead||1,878 |- |Championship||12 August 2017||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"| 5–1 ||Inverness CT||4,391 |- |Challenge Cup||15 August 2017||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"| 2–0 ||Arbroath||1,462 |- |Championship||19 August 2017||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"| 3–1 ||Falkirk||5,751 |- |Championship||16 September 2017||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"| 3–0 ||St Mirren||6,628 |- |Championship||30 September 2017||bgcolor="#FFCCCC"| 1–3 ||Dundee United||7,585 |- |Championship||21 October 2017||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"| 3–1 ||Livingston||5,089 |- |Championship||21 November 2017||bgcolor="FFFFCC"| 1–1 ||Greenock Morton||4,816 |- |Championship||25 November 2017||bgcolor="FFFFCC"| 2–2 ||Dumbarton||4,505 |- |Championship||9 December 2017||bgcolor="FFCCCC"| 2–5 ||Queen of the South||4,694 |- |Championship||23 December 2017||bgcolor="CCFFCC"| 2–1 ||Brechin City||4,595 |- |Championship||2 January 2018||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"| 2–0 ||Falkirk||7,140 |- |Championship||13 January 2018||bgcolor="FFFFCC"| 0–0 ||Dundee United||7,139 |- |Scottish Cup||20 January 2018||bgcolor="FFCCCC"| 1–2 ||Greenock Morton||2,573 |- |Championship||26 January 2018||bgcolor="#FFCCCC"| 1–2 ||St Mirren||5,479 |- |Championship||13 March 2018||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"| 1–0 ||Inverness CT||2,249 |- |Championship||17 March 2018||bgcolor="FFFFCC"| 0–0 ||Greenock Morton||4,816 |- |Championship||31 March 2018||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"| 3–1 ||Queen of the South||4,762 |- |Championship||3 April 2018||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"| 1–0 ||Livingston||4,572 |- |Championship||14 April 2018||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"| 4–0 ||Brechin City||4,898 |- |Championship||28 April 2018||bgcolor="#CCFFCC"| 4–0 ||Dumbarton||5,506 |- |Championship||1 May 2018||bgcolor="#FFFFCC"| 0–0 ||Dundee United||6,474 |- |bgcolor="#C0C0C0"| |bgcolor="#C0C0C0"| |bgcolor="#C0C0C0"| | Average league attendance: | 5,243 |- |bgcolor="#C0C0C0"| |bgcolor="#C0C0C0"| |bgcolor="#C0C0C0"| | Total league attendance: | 94,382 |- |bgcolor="#C0C0C0"| |bgcolor="#C0C0C0"| |bgcolor="#C0C0C0"| | Average total attendance: | 4,718 |- |bgcolor="#C0C0C0"| |bgcolor="#C0C0C0"| |bgcolor="#C0C0C0"| | Total attendance: | 108,526
Awards Monthly Scottish Championship Manager of the Month Month Name August Allan Johnston
Scottish Championship Player of the Month Month Player August Joe Cardle March Nicky Clark
Club Month Name August Callum Smith September Ryan Williamson October Jason Talbot November Jason Talbot December Dean Shiels January Jean-Yves Mvoto February Declan McManus March Nicky Clark
End of Season PFA Scotland Award Player PFA Scotland Scottish Championship Team of the Year Ryan Williamson
Club Award Player DAFC Player of the Year Lee Ashcroft Player's Player of the Year Lee Ashcroft Joe Nelson Young Player of the Year Callum Smith Centenary Club Lifeline Player of the Year Declan McManus Kincardine Pars Supporters Club Player of the Year Lee Ashcroft Young Pars Player of the Year Declan McManus
Transfers First team
Players in Date Position No. Nationality Name From Fee Ref. 8 May 2017 DF 24 Paul Allan Fife Elite Football Academy Free 17 May 2017 DF 4 Jean-Yves Mvoto Raith Rovers Free 15 June 2017 FW 9 Declan McManus Fleetwood Town Free 15 June 2017 MF 13 Aaron Splaine Kilmarnock Free 17 July 2017 MF 27 Dean Shiels FC Edmonton Free 3 August 2017 DF 17 Fraser Aird Falkirk Free 15 August 2017 FW 16 Andy Ryan Airdrieonians Undisclosed 17 August 2017 GK 30 Craig Burt AM Soccer Free 2 January 2018 GK 25 Lee Robinson Queen of the South Free 19 January 2018 MF 28 James Craigen Falkirk Free
Players out